Film: 2nd Half
Director: Yogi Devagange
Cast: Priyanka Upendra, Niranjan Sudhindra, Surabhi Santhosh
Rating: 3.5 stars
Considering that the audience today are looking for new-age films with relevant content, filmmakers constantly have their thinking caps on to cater to these demands. They are constantly on their toes to work on fresh scripts with mass-appealing content.
The latest offering from newcomer Yogi Devagange is 2nd Half. The plot is based on a police constable Anuradha (Priyanka Upendra) and Ratna (Shalini) who are handling the on-ground work at the police station and keeping a watch on the CCTV footage of a particular area and informing her seniors of untoward incidents happening in the society.
A dedicated constable, Anuradha goes that extra mile to solve some cases on her own. One such that manages to catch the constable's eyeballs is of Saranya (Surabhi Santosh) and Niranjan (Niranjan Sudhindra) and their daily activities.
While the latter is street smart, Saranya is an artiste, who goes about working on street art. The turning point of the film is when Saranya is kidnapped by a few miscreants. A series of incidents in the area related to the kidnap helps Anuradha connect the dots. She feels that there is something more than meets the eye. But, not getting support from her immediate senior police officer, she takes on the responsibility of making the case to it logical conclusion on her own shoulders.
Anuradha looks for help from Niranjan, having a clue that he had some romantic inclinations towards her. While one part of the story is guessing as to whether she will be able to solve the case, the other part to the film is figuring out the reason behind Sharanya's kidnap. The latter, in fact, is the highlight of 2nd Half.
True to its title, the detailed explanations to many unexplained portions in the first half, is elaborated in the second half. As the film explores the treatment of on-ground police officers, especially lady constables, it also looks into the thoughts of a young girl, who has incomplete information about who her father is, is a provocative thought less told.
The paradox of the film is its pace. The director seems to have a taken a very slow pace with his narration, which is not associated with a crime thriller. In fact, the 1st part of the film only tests the patience of the audience. Scenes are repeated and at many points, like it feels like the film is not moving forward. Even the manner in which the second half of the film is handled is not seamless.
Priyanka, on her part takes a lot of responsibility on her shoulders. Being the centre point of the film, she has gone as per the director's vision. For Niranjan, 2nd Half becomes a trial run, before he gets his next big picture. A little hardwork from his end, might help to mould his career. This is just the beginning and he has a long way to go. Surabhi Santhosh is the soul of the film with the revolving mostly around him. Even though she doesn't have much screen space, 2nd Half doesn't make for a complete picture without her. Coming as support cast are Sharath Lohitashva, Veena Sunar, Rithesh, Hemanth Susheel among others. A better background score could have worked in favour of the film.
The premise of this crime plot slightly different from the rest, that will, of course, have your attention. But be warned of the slow build up.